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English Bulldog Puppy Has Soft Stool

Hi,

I have a 14 week bulldog puppy, and he has been having soft stool since Feb. 6.
I was worried about it not going hard, because it has been some time now. I took
him to the vet last Tuesday (Feb. 23) to get his parvo shot. So I told the vet
what was going (hence I have tried the pumpkin in a can trick, and it worked
temporarily, but it just went back to the same routine.) So I had the vet run
some tests (parvo, and fecal test for parasites) both came back negative. The
doctor gave me some pills and liquid medicine. The vet gave me Flagyl, Albon,
and a liquid medicine called Pecmycin (I give him 2 ml every 12 hours). The
stool has hardened a little bit, but it keeps going back to being soft. I am
running out of ideas on how to get this poor little guys stool to harden. I am
also feeding him a good brand of food called Lotus for puppies. Has anyone
encountered this problem? If so, can you please tell me how I can get his stool
to harden....???

Re: English Bulldog Puppy Has Soft Stool

Could remain a fiber imbalance (hence him suggesting pumpkin) and I think you'd have to keep giving it if that were the case, or bump his fiber in another way.

Could be something that isnt a worm/parasite and is bacterial or viral like Giardia. Most vets dont standardly check for Giardia, and it can be a beast to get rid of. The metronidazole (Flagyl is the brand name) should start treating it and hopefully take care of it if that's what it is though, so he probably prescribed the other stuff to be safe even though he couldn't find anything.

Could be a grain allergy or sensitivity - while that food appears to have some of the "better" grains, so to speak, there are dogs that are sensitive to oats, barley, etc. This seems common with bully breeds, and a lot of them wind up feeding a grain free food. There are some good suggestions of those on the food forum. I'm not saying jump to this conclusion right away, let the medication run it's course, but the next logical thing to try is a food change. Be aware though, that you need to mix a new food in very slowly over a week or ten days or the loose stool will likely get worse. Even with a slow mix, a sensitive dog can have some upset for a while.

Hope he feels better

P.S. and of course, continue to check back with your vet about his condition if it doesn't improve. Forum advice isn't a substitution for vet advice

Re: English Bulldog Puppy Has Soft Stool

Ok cool that's what I was thinking too, because the breeder had him on holistic select adult food, and I was advised by the vet to put him back on puppy food. He is almost four months, so I think after I start to run low on my bag of lotus food I will be switching him over to adult food, because of what I have read about bulldogs and adult dog food. I will let the medication run it's course like you said, and I take him to the vet this Friday, so hopefully his stool is hard by then, and thank you for your advice!